


Progress

by Spinning_Mouse



Category: The Outer Worlds (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol, F/F, he's probably still an asshole at this point but who knows, vague mentions of max
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-01-30 04:36:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21422293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spinning_Mouse/pseuds/Spinning_Mouse
Summary: All you need to start a relationship is a nice, very real plan.
Relationships: The Captain/Nyoka (The Outer Worlds)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 46





	Progress

The first thing Captain Phoenix (or was it Hawthorne now?) noticed about Nyoka was her hair. 

It was big and bright and pink and _wonderful_. Did she dye it? Was natural pink hair just a thing on this weird colony? If she dyed it, where did she get it from? Wasn’t Monarch mostly cut off? Did she do it herself? She must have, it stayed the same on the unreliable, no matter where they went. It was almost supernatural, really. Always perfect, never washed out, never showing any darker roots. She worked up the courage to ask Nyoka about it on the groundbreaker once. Nyoka just laughed, never actually answering the question.

Phoenix loved to watch it. She loved the way it framed Nyoka’s face when she told wild hunting stories on the Unreliable. She loved the gentle way it swayed in the wind as they trudged across the different planets of Halcyon. She loved the way it bounced during fights, moving in time with Nyoka’s movements as she swung her weapon to the next target. She especially loved it after fights, when the back frizzed up and stray strands stuck to the sweat on her face, the perfect compliment to huge smile and bright shine in her eyes that usually followed a successful fight. 

In fact, if she thought about it, she really just loved to watch Nyoka in general. The way she talked and laughed and moved and fought and drank and told stories and oh Law her _smile_.

Maybe, just maybe, Phoenix spent a little too much time watching Nyoka. 

Or maybe she just needed a plan. Parvati had made a plan for Junlei, and that worked out, right? Sure, Phoenix took care of a lot of the set up and Parvati and Junlei both obviously already wanted to be together for months prior to their actual date and they had chemistry from the beginning while Nyoka always just looked at Phoenix like a friend or a good co-worker but it was probably fine. Plans always worked, right?

Right?

Of course, as she would realize a few weeks later, it was very helpful to actually _have_ a plan. Turns out not much changes when you just keep acting the same and make no moves. All Phoenix really had was a vague concept of how she thought these things should work, and copious amounts of alcohol. 

Nyoka always appreciated that, at least. 

Phoenix didn’t drink very often herself. Too much time worrying about the next mission, the next job, the next step in this scientist’s “plan” she still didn’t quite trust. But she always had some around, just in case. 

Now, late at night, the Unreliable drifting through space under Ada’s direction, the interior of the ship nearly silent save for the workings of the engine, seemed like a good time for some moping. 

“Why can’t you just say something,” she muttered, halfway through a shitty watered down bottle of Zero Gee Brew, “like a person! She-she’s a woman of action, and you’re-you’re a-”

A sudden noise startled her, throwing off her dwindling balance as she tried to jump out of her chair. It was several seconds later, with new bruises already forming on her side, she realized she had failed to stand up. 

“You ok?” Nyoka leaned over the kitchen table, clearly struggling to stifle a laugh. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

Phoenix just stared. Embarrassment crept up through her veins. Of all the people it could have been! She made a mental note (that she would most certainly forget) to direct her anger at Max later. Him and his stupid religion. Another failed plan.

Still, like this, Nyoka seemed so...soft. It was strange to see her like this, heavier layers of clothes abandoned for a thin set of pajamas. The light of the kitchen shone through her hair at this angle, making it glow like a neon pink halo.

“Allllllright. You want help up, or should I just leave you to it?” Nyoka asked, still waiting for a response. Phoenix wordlessly held out her hand, not quite trusting anything reasonable to come out of her mouth. 

Nyoka pulled her up to her feet like she weighed nothing. Maybe she did. It was so unfair that she could just do that. Why was she so good at things?

“Practice, and a lot of time hauling around a really big gun. And yes, you did say that out loud.”

Phoenix opened her mouth to respond.

Then closed it.

Opened it again.

Closed. 

“Right, I’m gonna go use the toilet, and when I get back we can just drink this away together. Don’t worry, I already know where you stash the good stuff.”

Nyoka gave a friendly pat on the shoulder before turning away, making her way through the kitchen to the ships one and only bathroom.

“Your hair is pretty.”

They both paused. Nyoka looked back, surprise on her face. 

“It’s-I like it. It’s pretty,” Phoenix continued, feeling relatively certain that silence here was a bad thing. “I like the pink.”

The surprise on Nyoka’s face quickly shifted into a soft smile, her eyes sparkling in a way Phoenix never saw. It caught her off guard. She had kind of expected another laugh. 

“Me too. And thanks. Now give me a minute and I’ll be happy to join you and listen about my hair some more.”

Phoenix nodded, very seriously, waiting until the bathroom door slid shut to plop back down into a chair. 

Good. That was good, right? It seemed good, or at least like some sort of progress had been made. Who needs plans! She didn’t need any help at all!

Her eyes landed back on the bottle sitting alone on the kitchen table. A little of her elation deflated. 

Well. Not help from a plan, at least.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm trying to remember how words work because I haven't been able to actually write anything for months and idk if I succeeded but regardless of whether this is good or bad it's very important to me that everybody knows I love Nyoka.


End file.
